Michael Bourquin is a filmmaker, editor, director of photography, camera operator and producer. He loves film, which is why he's dedicated his life to the making of, and execution of, stories told in moving pictures.

He grew up in Witset, an Indigenous community in Northern BC along Highway 16 (infamously named the "Highway of Tears" for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls epidemic for decades).

Bourquin helped make Adaawk, a documentary that gives a glimpse into the lives of loved ones that are missing and murdered along the Highway of Tears. Family members courageously share their stories all while dealing with grief and loss.

In 2018, he was involved in the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which is where he met Adaawk filmmaker Lorna Brown.

Brown asked Bourquin to be her camera operator and director of photography, and he felt strongly that this story and the story of the families needed to be told from an Indigenous perspective and said "yes" right away.

CICK News producer Pam Haasen spoke with Michael Bourquin about the importance of Indigenous stories being told by Indigenous filmmakers as well as the future of Indigenous filmmaking.

Listen to that interview below: